Roland Garros: Federer Progresses Smoothly
Federer crashes Teixeira to reach third round
Third seed Roger Federer needed just one hour and 25 minutes to secure a place into the third round. The Swiss has advanced further after knocking crowd favorite Maxime Teixeira in three sets, 6-3, 6-0, 6-2.
Roger, who is taking place at his 12th French Open edition, has continued his progress without conceding any set. The 29-year-old had beaten Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 in the first round, and kept the sheet clean throughout the entire meeting with Teixeira. Federer managed to grab a two-point lead in the first set, breaking the French on his first service. Teixeira then replied with a break in the third game to make the Swiss pretty uncomfortable.
The two then went head to head until the eighth game. Roger picked a precious break at the right moment, stunning the unseeded with a 5-3 lead. The Swiss, winner in 2009 at Roland Garros, held his serve to clinch the opener in almost half an hour. Even so, the best of Roger was yet to come. World No. 3 broke the French three times in the second set to make it 2-0 in less than 30 minutes.
Teixeira could only witness his own ruining. The decider found the French allowing the lively Federer to grab a couple of more breaks and take a 4-0 lead. Both players held their serve until the last game, but – as expected – it was Roger to claim the victory. Teixeira takes home a 25,000 euro check and 45 points ATP, while Federer has secured a 42,000 euro one and 90 points.
“It’s so difficult to come out and play on a big court when you are not used to it. I’m playing here for the 12th year and I’m very experienced,” said delighted Federer. On the other side, the French could only enjoy a precious meeting against the former world champion. “To play against Roger is an incredible experience. I’ll never forget it and it will be great memories,” said Teixeira.
Federer will next play Janko Tipsarevic, who also made an easy progress into the third round after beating Pere Riba 6-1, 6-3, 6-0. The Swiss leads the head to head series 3-0, having last defeated the titleless Serb at the 2010 Basel event.
Sergiy Stakhovsky is the third player to reach the third term in Paris. The Ukrainian beat Kei Nishikori in four sets, after surviving a midway scare, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6. Stakhovsky grabbed two early breaks to clinch the opener pretty quickly. The second set found Nishikori leveling the score thanks to an early break and despite being broken back in the seventh game.
Another precious early break allowed the Ukrainian win the third set, while the decider found both going head to head. Thus, the Japanese pushed the set into tie-break but lost it to three. Stakhovsky will next meet seventh seeded David Ferrer who has just ousted Julien Benneteau 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
The Spaniard stole an early break from the French to take a 3-0 lead he wouldn’t drop until the end of the opener. So, Ferrer, who is chasing his third title of the season after Auckland and Acapulco successes, won the first set by three games and kept the same pace throughout the entire second set. Ferrer grabbed a second straight early break which helped him to make it 2-0 after just over an hour.
As for the third set, the decider found Benneteau winning his first serve, only to concede the third and fifth. A couple of breaks propelled the Spaniard through to an easy win and into the third term. Ferrer will meet Stakhovsky for the third time, the 29-year-old having defeated the world number 36 twice, last occasion at this year’s Madrid Masters.
On the same second half of the table, second seeded Novak Djokovic, who hasn’t lost any game so far this season, is to face Romania’s Victor Hanescu. The Serb eased past Thiemo de Bakker in the opener, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3, while his next opponent, whom he’ll meet for the sixth time, needed four sets to oust Benoit Paire, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6. Djokovic leads the head to head confrontations 5-0, his last victory dating from the 2010 Toronto Masters.
Juan Martin Del Porto, who finally arrived in Paris, is to face Blaz Kavcic in the second term. The Argentine struggled against Ivo Karlovic in the opener, needing four sets to eliminate the Croatian. Del Potro has made the progress thanks to a 6-7, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 win, to play Kavcic, who follows a three-set victory over Ernests Gulbis, for the first time.
Gael Monfils and Guillaume Rufin are also expected to fight for a place into the third term. Monfils overcame Bjorn Pahu of Germany in the first round, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-0, while his compatriot eased past another French Adrian Mannarino 6-2, 6-3, 6-2. The winner between the two will meet either Philipp Petzschner or Steve Darcis of Belgium.
The German eliminated Mischa Zverev in straight sets 7-6, 6-0, 6-4, while Darcis had to overcome a first set deficit against Michael Llodra before making the progress. The Belgium beat the crowd favorite 6-7, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, the game including at the same time an unpleasant moment which found Llodra hitting a ball standswards after being disturbed by the noise.
Wednesday fixtures:
Stanislas Wawrinka – Thomas Schoorel
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga – Igor Andreev
Fabio Fognini – Stephane Robert
Marsel Ilhan – Guillermo Garcia-Lopez
Ruben Hidalgo – Albert Montanes
Marcel Granollers – Richard Gasquet
Andreas Seppi – Thomaz Bellucci
Roland Garros Prize Money and points:
Winner – 1,200,000 euro and 2000 points ATP
Finalist – 600,000 euro and 1,200 points ATP
Semi finalist – 300,000 euro and 720 points ATP
Quarter finalist – 150,000 euro and 360 points ATP
R16 – 75,000 euro and 180 points ATP
R32 – 42,000 euro and 90 points ATP
R64 – 25,000 euro and 45 points ATP
R128 – 15,000 euro and 10 points ATP11
